Le derrière

I saw "Le Derriere" for the second time, this time on Belgian television, and I enjoyed it as much as I did when it was released in 1999.

It is really amazing to see that the last movie where the composer Henry Mancini is credited after his death is a French one. I don't know how they had this idea of using Mancini music to score this movie. But I find this a brilliant idea. Actually the theme is even better used in this movie than in the original Blake Edwards' movie.

Just a small remark: to my opinion there is a mistake in the end credits: the Mancini theme does not come from the 3rd movement of the "Beaver Valley Suite'37" (Sons of Italy) but more simply from one of the Pink Panther movies(the Inspector Clouseau theme).

Le Derrière tells the story of a provincial young woman (Lemercier) who, after the death of her mother, goes to Paris to look for her mysterious father (Rich) who is in fact a sympathetic, rich, snobbish and gay figure of the art scene. With the help of gay friends, she makes him believe that she's a boy, and moves to his place. Though this summary makes the movie look like the "Cage aux folles" sort of gay comedies, it's much better than this. Lemercier, a well-known comedian in France, has a bizarre talent for characters who, in spite of being "extreme" or close to caricature, are also touching and complex. She mixes physical (and sometimes gross) comedy with more subtle things (like the relationships between her father and his boy-friend). At the end of the film we really like these people and care for them. The last shot of the movie is a pure delight.

This comment won't be very long, all i have to say is that the actors are really great, the story doesn't need any special effects to captivate the audience or to get them to go and see the movie. I suppose there will be an American remake in 2 or 3 years time (like for a lot of great European movies)